Asked by: Lucy Allan (Conservative - Telford)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what information his Department holds on whether the Principal Accounting Officer with responsibility for the Post Office Ltd authorised the use of public money for purposes of resisting resolution of the Post Office group litigation.
Answered by Paul Scully
While Post Office Ltd is publicly owned, it operates as an independent, commercial business. Unless otherwise specified in the Articles of Association, spending including spend on legal costs is treated as an operational matter for the Post Office. It funded all litigation costs related to the Group Litigation Order.
Asked by: Lucy Allan (Conservative - Telford)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what information his department holds on whether the Principal Accounting Officer with responsibility for the Post Office Ltd was aware of the budget for the legal costs of defending the Post Office group litigation.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Principal Accounting Officer has been sighted with quarterly updates relating to Post Office Ltd’s (POL) change spend (including litigation) costs since 2018/19. Additionally, the Principal Accounting Officer is also sighted on POL’s annual budgets which includes forecasted legal costs.
Asked by: Lucy Allan (Conservative - Telford)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what information his Department holds on when the Principal Accounting Officer with responsibility for the Post Office Ltd became aware that the Horizon Accounting System was faulty.
Answered by Paul Scully
Concerns about the Horizon system were raised with the Department publicly, including in Parliament, and these are a matter of public record. BEIS relied on the Post Office’s management to investigate issues with the Horizon system and was assured that the system was robust and that the issues raised by the postmasters were being handled appropriately. The Department was aware upon the handing down of the Common Issues Judgement by Justice Fraser in March 2019 that there were serious issues with the Horizon IT System. This was confirmed in the Horizon Issues Judgement in December 2019.
The Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry, led by Sir Wyn Williams, will establish a clear account of the implementation and failings of Horizon over its lifecycle and the Department is fully cooperating with the Inquiry as are both the Post Office and Fujitsu.
Asked by: Lucy Allan (Conservative - Telford)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Takeover Code following the take over of GKN by Melrose.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
The Takeover Code is administered by the Takeover Panel, an independent organisation. The Code was strengthened earlier this year to give companies more time to respond to a bid and to require bidding companies to provide more information on their intention earlier in the takeover process.
Asked by: Lucy Allan (Conservative - Telford)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of business start-ups in (a) the Telford constituency, (b) Telford and Wrekin borough, (c) Shropshire and (d) the West Midlands in each year since 2010.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
The Office for National Statistics’ Business Demography survey details the change in number of UK businesses.
When looking at business start-ups we look at business births. The Office of National Statistics defines business births as new business registrations.
The following table gives the number of business births in the Telford Constituency, Telford and Wrekin Borough, Shropshire and the West Midlands from 2010 to 2016.
Business Births | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
Telford | 235 | 255 | 285 | 365 | 335 | 340 | 385 |
Telford and Wrekin Borough | 430 | 470 | 505 | 640 | 625 | 635 | 670 |
Shropshire | 1,020 | 1,105 | 1,060 | 1,380 | 1,315 | 1,350 | 1,290 |
West Midlands | 17,805 | 19,555 | 19,650 | 25,735 | 25,745 | 29,350 | 34,700 |
Asked by: Lucy Allan (Conservative - Telford)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps the Government has taken to improve local infrastructure for small and medium-sized businesses.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
Government has supported and invested in the creation of a network of Growth Hubs (one in each Local Enterprise Partnership area), providing businesses across England with tailored advice and support. Businesses in Telford are served by The Marches Growth Hub. Since its launch in 2015, this Growth Hub has engaged and supported over 14,081 businesses and delivered 144 intensive assists.
Through the Industrial Strategy, Government has announced its intention to ensure all businesses in every region continue to have access to a Growth Hub. We will therefore build on the Growth Hub programme, providing a further £24m of core funding over the next 2 years (£12m in 2018-19 and £12m in 2019-20). In addition, Government will continue to provide national support to all businesses through the Business Support Helplinee and GOV.UK.
The Government is also supporting Local Enterprise Partnerships to develop local infrastructure, skills, broadband and innovation in their areas. We are investing £104.9 million in The Marches LEP as part of the Growth Deal Programme. This includes a £4 million project to provide Telford with 100% fibre broadband coverage by 2020 to support the town’s growth, economic prosperity and digital inclusion; and significant works to improve connectivity and access to Telford Town Centre, which will benefit small and medium-sized businesses in your constituency.
Asked by: Lucy Allan (Conservative - Telford)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department has taken to increase the level of access to credit for businesses in the Telford constituency in the last 12 months.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
We are working hard to support businesses and entrepreneurs across the UK, to ensure they can access finance and support to grow and that the right conditions are in place for companies to invest for the long-term.
For the 12 month period up to end of September 2017, the Start Up Loans programme provided 30 loans to businesses in Telford & Wrekin totalling over £325,000, of which 20 loans were to businesses in the Telford constituency totalling over £169,000In addition, the Government has funded the provision of tailored advice and support for start-ups and SMEs in each Local Enterprise Partnership area and in Telford this is through The Marches Growth Hub.
Telford constituency is also part of the Midlands Engine. A key part of the Government’s strategy for fuelling growth in the region is the £250m Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF), which was launched on 22 February and is a result of close collaboration between the British Business Bank, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government and 10 Midlands Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs). It aims to transform the finance landscape for smaller businesses in the Midlands, accelerate economic growth and promote job creation.
Finally, my Rt. Hon Friend the Chancellor announced in the Autumn Budget that we are extending the British Business Bank’s Enterprise Finance Guarantee to March 2022 and expanding the programme to support up to £500 million of loans per annum.
Asked by: Lucy Allan (Conservative - Telford)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the (a) number and (b) financial value of start-up loans was for small businesses in (i) Telford and Wrekin and (ii) the Telford constituency in the last 12 months.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
We are working hard to support businesses and entrepreneurs across the UK, to ensure they can access finance and support to grow and that the right conditions are in place for companies to invest for the long-term.
For the 12 month period up to end of September 2017, the Start Up Loans programme provided 30 loans to businesses in Telford & Wrekin totalling over £325,000, of which 20 loans were to businesses in the Telford constituency totalling over £169,000In addition, the Government has funded the provision of tailored advice and support for start-ups and SMEs in each Local Enterprise Partnership area and in Telford this is through The Marches Growth Hub.
Telford constituency is also part of the Midlands Engine. A key part of the Government’s strategy for fuelling growth in the region is the £250m Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF), which was launched on 22 February and is a result of close collaboration between the British Business Bank, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government and 10 Midlands Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs). It aims to transform the finance landscape for smaller businesses in the Midlands, accelerate economic growth and promote job creation.
Finally, my Rt. Hon Friend the Chancellor announced in the Autumn Budget that we are extending the British Business Bank’s Enterprise Finance Guarantee to March 2022 and expanding the programme to support up to £500 million of loans per annum.
Asked by: Lucy Allan (Conservative - Telford)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the value added to the UK economy by businesses based in Shropshire.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) provides annual Gross value added (GVA) estimates which provide a measure of the contribution of an area to the UK economy. Figures, published by the ONS in December 2017, estimate the GVA for the Shropshire County Council area in 2016 was £6,236 million.
Asked by: Lucy Allan (Conservative - Telford)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to protect (a) jobs and (b) operations at GKN Telford, in respect of Melrose Plc’s proposed takeover of that company.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
While this is a commercial matter for the companies involved, Government is closely monitoring the situation. My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has spoken on an impartial basis to both companies.
Takeovers of publicly listed companies in the UK must abide by the Takeover Code, which sets out an orderly framework for how takeovers must be conducted, and earlier this month new changes to the Code were introduced that will give companies subject to a bid more time to prepare their response.
Ministers can only intervene in mergers on public interest grounds, covering national security, financial stability or media plurality.